A resident welfare association (frequently abbreviated as RWA) is a civic body that represents the interests of the residents of a specific urban or suburban locality in Indian cities. Membership is voluntary, and the leadership is usually elected by fee-paying members. Members who do not pay the voluntary subsrcription fee in any year may not vote in the general body and other meetings of the association since they would be deemed as having opted out of the membership of the voluntary association. In some localities such association bear the word 'Development" in their nomenclature such as development and welfare association.
RWAs are not official organs of government, and even slums and illegal housing localities in India can form RWAs to represent citizen interests. RWAs are typically registered through co-operative societies acts, which require groups to have a minimum of fifteen members from a given area. These acts also set the rules for the establishment of RWA bye-laws, which include such things as membership criteria, voting rights, and the conditions under which RWA officers can initiate legal proceeding on behalf of the registered society. Despite the prevalence of RWAs in slums and unauthorized colonies, however, government programs aimed at involving RWAs in strategic governance decisions, such as Delhi's Bhagidari Scheme, include only RWAs based in planned neighborhoods. RWAs have become increasingly involved in municipal politics and decision-making since the early 2000s and continue to grow in importance.